Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday announced an assistance of Rs five lakh each to parents of the newborns who died in the fire incident at Maharani Laxmibai Medical College Hospital, Jhansi.
The UP government has also announced Rs 50,000 each to the families of the injured from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
CM Yogi Adityanath has also directed the Divisional Commissioner and Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) of Jhansi to submit a report regarding the incident within 12 hours.
10 newborns lost their lives in the fire, which is believed to have started due to a short circuit in an oxygen concentrator, and spread rapidly due to the highly oxygenated environment in the NICU.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Saturday said DNA tests, if required, will be conducted to identify three of the ten newborns.
Seven of the deceased have been identified, while several other infants sustained burn injuries in the incident.
Speaking to reporters, Deputy Chief Minister Pathak said, “Ten newborns have died, seven have been identified, and three are yet to be identified. If required, DNA tests will be conducted.”
President Droupadi Murmu too expressed her condolences, describing the tragedy as “heartbreaking.” In a post on X, she said, “The news of the death of several newborn babies in the accident at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh is extremely heartbreaking. May God give strength to the bereaved parents and families to bear this cruel blow. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured babies.”
Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav slammed the state government and said that is the case of “negligence” of medical management.
Taking to his social media handle on X, Akhilesh Yadav posted, “The news of 10 children dying and many children getting injured due to fire in Jhansi Medical College is extremely sad and worrying. Heartfelt condolences to everyone.”
“The cause of the fire is being said to be a fire in the ‘oxygen concentrator’. This is a direct case of negligence of medical management and administration or of poor quality oxygen concentrator. Punitive action should be taken against all those responsible in this case. The Chief Minister should leave the election campaign and false claims of ‘everything being fine’ and focus on the poor condition of health and medical facilities,” read the post.